With virtual reality technology becoming a more and more common tool in architecture offices, engineers have already begun thinking about the next wave of advancements that could add even more functionality into their products. One of these advancements is through the use of one of the information age’s biggest revolutions: analysis of user feedback.

Lauching today, 3D visualization company InsiteVR has implemented these features into their software for the first time – allowing architects to learn about how people are viewing their models in real time.

via InsiteVR

With Analytics, InsiteVR walkthroughs can be replayed with an overlaid heatmap, which provides data on the distribution of users’ attention while travelling through the virtual space. Avatars representing each user can be followed through the space, giving you the ability to track and analyze where someone may have been standing when they paused to look at a particular feature, or how the strayed from the intended circulation path.

One example InsiteVR uses is that of a basketball arena: what is the visibility from a particular seat of the stadium, and how can the architecture be used to enhance that particular viewer’s experience?

InstiteVR suggests that the software could be used to improve wayfinding strategies for large buildings such as hospitals, airports and other public spaces. The effectiveness of signs can be accurately measured by how long it takes viewers to find them, and how often they are lead to their intended destination.

The 2016 edition of SXSW Interactive had no shortage of virtual reality demos, including virtual reality as it applies to architecture. On Tuesday, IA Interior Architects and InsiteVR held a panel on the impact that VR has had on the design process and communication with clients.